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U.S. teams well represented on Le Mans entry list

January 31, 2013

The entry list for Le Mans has been announced. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

The ACO released its list of 56 invitees for the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans today, and there are no big surprises for the June 22-23 classic. But, as always, the American Le Mans Series has a substantial presence there.

Before you ask, no, the Deltawing will not be going back -- we aren’t sure that we’ll see the car on-track anywhere this year before Petit Le Mans. This year, the 56th slot, reserved for technology leaders which got the Deltawing to Le Mans last year in the first place, goes to the Green GT H2, but that was announced last June. The Green GT H2 car is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

Certainly one of the most anticipated battles will be between Corvette Racing, going for its eighth class victory at Le Mans, and the Vipers of SRT Motorsports, both in the GTE-Pro field. In GT-Am, which mixes amateur and pro drivers, actor Patrick Dempsey will be co-driving a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. It’s his second trip to Le Mans as a driver -- he raced there in 2009. He will line up against another U.S. team; Extreme Speed Motorsports, led by Scott Sharp, has one entry with its Tequila Patrón-backed Ferrari F458 Italia.

In LMP2, Scott Tucker’s Level 5 Motorsports will return to Le Mans with a Honda ARX-03b entry. The team has won the last two ALMS championships in class and three straight titles dating back to the 2010 Prototype Challenge crown.

TRG is on the reserve list for GTE. The GT champion at Le Mans in 2002, the team hopes to make its comeback under the TRG-AMR North America banner this year with an Aston Martin Vantage GTE. It is the same car TRG-AMR North America expects to debut during the 2013 ALMS.

“This is understandably exciting news for a group of our best teams and competitors to receive. ALMS representation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans has historically been strong, producing exciting wins and many proud moments for North American fans,” said Scott Atherton, ALMS President and CEO. “Whether its familiar faces like Corvette Racing and Level 5 Motorsports or relative newcomers to Le Mans, such as SRT, Extreme Speed and Patrick Dempsey, we are proud to be represented by them and offer our heartiest congratulations and best wishes in their race toward one of the world’s great motorsport events.”

Up front, it appears we’ll be seeing another Audi-Toyota battle, as Audi has entered three R18 e-tron quattros, and Toyota has a pair of TS 030 Hybrids. Rebellion and Straka also have LMP1 entries, but they can’t expect to compete with the two factory efforts unless Audi and Toyota have a disastrous race.

In LMP2, the class looks healthy with 22 entries, including Tucker’s Level 5 team. Also of interest to U.S. fans: A Starworks Honda with Alex Popow and presumably Ryan Dalziel.

In GTE-Pro, the Corvettes and Vipers will be battling Ferrari 458 Italias, Porsche 911 RSRs and two Aston Martin Vantages.

There are 14 entries in GT-Am --Tracy Krohn, who just raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona, has entered a Ferrari 458, as has Enzo Potolicchio, who debuted his Daytona Prototype at the Rolex 24 last weekend.

There were 71 entries for the 56 spots. Teams on the reserve list could be included as invitees drop out before the race.

2013 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list:

LMP1

1. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Andre Lotterer

2. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Tom Kristensen

3. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Marc Gene

7. Toyota Racing Toyota Alex Wurz

8. Toyota Racing Toyota Anthony Davidson

12. Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota Nicolas Prost

13. Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota Neel Jani

21. Strakka Racing HPD-Honda Nick Leventis

LMP2

24. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan Jacques Nicolet

25. Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan John Martin

26. G-Drive Racing ORECA-Nissan Roman Rusinov

27. Sebastien Loeb Racing ORECA-Nissan Franck Montagny

28. Gulf Racing Middle East Lola-Nissan Fabien Giroix

29. Gulf Racing Middle East Lola-Nissan Frederic Fatien

30. HVM Status GP Lola-Judd Jonathan Kennard

31. Lotus Lotus Kevin Weeda

32. Lotus Lotus Thomas Holzer

33. Level 5 Motorsports HPD-Honda Scott Tucker

35. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan Olivier Pla

36. Signatech ORECA-NIssan Franck Maillieux

38. Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan Simon Dolan

40. Boutsen Ginion Racing ORECA-Nissan Koen Wauters

41. Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Christian Zugel

42. Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Tom Kimber-Smith

44. Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda Alex Popow

45. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan David Heinemeier Hansson

46. Thiriet by TDS ORECA-Nissan Piere Thiriet

47. KCMG Morgan-Nissan Alexandre Imperatori

48. Murphy Prototypes ORECA-Nissan Brendon Hartley

GTE Pro

51. AF Corse Ferrari Gianmaria Bruni

66. JMW Motorsport Ferrari Tim Sugden

71. AF Corse Ferrari Olivier Beretta

73. Corvette Racing Corvette Antonio Garcia

74. Corvette Racing Corvette Oliver Gavin

91. Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche Marc Lieb

92. Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche Jorg Bergmeister

93. SRT Motorsports Viper Marco Goossens

94. SRT Motorsports Viper Dominik Farnbacher

97. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Darren Turner

99. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Stefan Mucke

GTE Am

50. Larbre Competition Corvette Patrick Bornhauser

54. AF Corse Ferrari Yannick Mallegol

55. AF Corse Ferrari Piergiuseppe Perazzini

57. Krohn Racing Ferrari Tracy Krohn

61. AF Corse Ferrari Jack Gerber

67. Imsa Performance Porsche Pascal Gibon

70. Larbre Competition Corvette Pedro Lamy

76. Imsa Performance Porsche Raymond Narac

77. Dempsey Proton Porsche Patrick Dempsey

80. Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari Scott Sharp

81. 8Star Motorsports Ferrari Enzo Potolicchio

88. Proton Competition Porsche Christian Ried

95. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Allan Simonsen

96. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Roald Goethe

Garage 56**

56. Green GT Green GT Christian Pescatori

Reserves (in order of priority)

LMP2

34. Race Performance ORECA-Judd Michel Frey

43. Morand Racing Morgan-Judd Natacha Gachnang

39. DKR Engineering Lola-Judd Olivier Porta

37. Signatech ORECA-Nissan Pierre Ragues

23. Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan Shinji Nakano

20. HVM Status GP Lola-Judd Warren Hughes

GTE

98. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Stuart Hall (Am)

75. ProSpeed Competition Porsche Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Am)

52. Ram Racing Ferrari Johnny Mowlem (Pro)

90. TRG AMR North America Aston Martin Kevin Buckler (Am)

*Drivers named for administrative purposes only and are subject to change.